Adventures.com offers glacier hiking tours all year round - suitable for all skill levels. Choose whether to join a small group tour from Reykjavik or drive to a meeting location. Walking on a glacier is truly something that shouldn't be missed when in Iceland! Check out our selection below.
With 11% of its total land area covered by ice, Iceland is a glacier paradise. Here you can find the largest ice cap in Europe along with some amazingly picturesque outlet glaciers. Many of these glacier tongues are very easy to access, allowing Iceland to offer a great selection of glacier walking tours to its visitors.
After reading the following guide, you will understand how these glaciers were formed over thousands of years and why they are so unique. You will learn about the glaciers in Iceland and will receive a brief overview of the different glacier-related tours and activities available. This will help you pick the tour that best suits you and your extreme Iceland travel plan.
Contrary to what you may believe, glaciers are not formed from water. They form from fresh snow. In places where the snow doesn't melt, such as on mountaintops or in the highlands, it begins to accumulate. This continues over decades and centuries until the massive amount of snow begins to compress under its own weight and transform itself into ice. This ice continues to grow and become denser, reaching hundreds or thousands of meters of thickness.
Powered by its own enormous weight, the edges of the ice start to move and slide down the mountain hills, like extremely slow, heavy, and cold rivers. This is how “outlet glaciers” or “glacier tongues” are formed.
This movement causes deep cracks and crevasses in the body of the glacier. While making them look even more extraordinary, these crevasses make the glaciers quite dangerous to navigate.
Snow and regular ice are white because they contain a lot of air bubbles. This air reflects the full spectrum of light, making us perceive it as white. When ice is strongly compressed, on the other hand, the air bubbles are forced out of it and do not interfere with the light traveling through the ice, allowing it to pass through undisturbed.
Ice absorbs much more light from the red spectrum than the blue spectrum. This means that as the light travels deeper into compressed ice, it loses more of the red spectrum along the way. This loss of red reflected light causes us to perceive blue.
As the surface of the glacier comes into contact with the air and begins to melt, it loses its blue color. The crevasses and cracks in the body of the glacier, however, are less exposed and do not melt as easily, making those areas appear blue. This effect is most impressive when it is seen in the glacial tongues and ice falls, as it gives the outlet glaciers a spectacular bluish hue.
No matter how much you’re enjoying the capital city, you probably don’t want to miss out on glacier hiking opportunities. After all, you are in the land of ice!
The good news is that you don’t have to travel anywhere on your own. Our Sólheimajökull glacier hiking tours include optional pickup from Reykjavik, the experience of a lifetime, and transportation back to the capital.
Our suggestions if you’re looking to go glacier hiking from Reykjavik:
Do you happen to be traveling around Iceland on your own and have decided to take things up a notch with glacier hiking in the Southeast? You’re in luck! This region is home not only to Iceland’s biggest glacier, Vatnajökull but also to a mecca of glacier-related activities.
You have two main options: simply explore the glacier while on a hike, or combine that with some water activities. All tours are led by certified, knowledgeable and very fun glacier guides.
If you're looking for a challenge, there's a possibility to try out glacier hiking and ice climbing adventure. Here, you'll get to explore the incredible scenery and beautiful crevasses of Falljokull Glacier up close.
If this is the first time you’re stepping onto the ice, a hiking adventure for beginners on Falljökull Glacier might be just what you’re looking for. Alternatively, a glacier hiking expedition and ice cave exploration will allow you to have a closer look at fascinating ice formations and embark on more thrilling adventures.
If you’ve been dreaming about a glacier boat tour in Iceland, we have the perfect way for you to see icebergs up close. Do you simply wish to take a look around? Hop on our Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon zodiac boat tour. It will allow you to sit back and admire the magnificent icebergs without any extra effort.
You can also take the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon kayaking and hiking tour. You’ll first kayak around steep icebergs. Just when you think you’ve seen everything, you’ll get to put your crampons on and discover a whole different side of ice and glaciers during a glacier hike.
Tours in Vatnajökull National Park take place on Falljökull Outlet Glacier, an icy tongue that elegantly meanders down the mountains on the side of Vatnajökull. During these tours, you’ll have the chance to explore Vatnajökull National Park and Skaftafell Nature Reserve.
You’ll do that by hiking on Falljökull Outlet Glacier, getting a close-up experience of icebergs at Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon and more! Some tours combine different activities, such as glacier hiking and kayaking. You’re guaranteed to find an adventure that strikes your fancy.
All of our tours are suitable for beginners as well as experienced hikers. Our certified guides will provide all the necessary equipment and make sure you make it back safe and sound. All that’s left for you to do is enjoy the tour!
The southern part of Iceland is home to the Sólheimajökull glacier. It sits between Katla and Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano that erupted in 2010 and forced a good chunk of Europe’s airports to temporarily close down. The evidence remains! While hiking on Sólheimajökull you can still see the volcano ashes that settled in the area.
We offer four distinct tours of the Sólheimajökull Ice Cap: Easy Glacier Hike, Glacier Hike with Ice Climbing, and Sustainable Glacier Hike. Our experienced guides will provide you with all the hiking and climbing equipment you need and make sure everything is held up to the most rigorous safety standards.
Glacier Hiking Tour for beginners is perfect for those who simply want to explore Sólheimajökull and the surrounding areas and take in some incredible natural landscapes.
Our Ice Climbing tour is built for those who want to push themselves, defy gravity and take a peek into those parts of the Sólheimajökull glacier no other hikers are able to see. A dozen colors of ice, thrilling experiences and a fair share of physical effort await!
Sustainable Glacier Hike is an extended version of the regular hike. On this tour, you will get to explore the glacier for longer and hear a lot about the glacier's history and how it's been affected by climate change. Plus, this glacier tour is eco-friendly cause we are offsetting the CO2 generated for this tour!
Vatnajokull Glacier is the largest glacier in Iceland and covers 8% of the country’s total landmass. It’s located in Vatnajokull National Park, Europe’s second-largest national park.
Vatnajokull National Park includes Skaftafell Nature Reserve, Vatnajokull Glacier, and several other protected areas. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.
Vatnajokull Glacier is one of the most popular attractions in Iceland. It hides a number of valleys, active volcanoes, plateaus, and mountains. Our tours will take you above and beyond Europe’s largest glacier alone!
To the north of the glacier, vast plateaus of Icelandic highlands carved by glacial rivers showcase Jökulsárgljúfur and Ásbyrgi Canyons. Famous Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Europe, also dominates the area.
To the east, spot wetlands filled with roaming wildlife and native birds.
To the south, photograph the snowy mountain peaks sheltering the outlet glaciers, Falljokull and Svinafellsjokull.
Falljokull Glacier is an outlet glacier of Vatnajokull Glacier. It’s 4 miles (8 kilometers) long and just 10 minutes away from the Skaftafell Visitor Center by bus. Once there, you’ll be amazed by the diversity of the scenery around you. From the top of the outlet glacier, you’ll see imposing and ever-changing ice formations, a picturesque mountainous landscape, and the surrounding rugged terrain.
Sólheimajökull glacier, unlike most others, is not surrounded by mountains. It offers some top-notch views of the South Coast with incredible landscape photos guaranteed. Sólheimajökull has two famous (and notorious) neighbors, Katla and Eyjafjallajökull volcanos. The capricious Eyjafjallajökull erupted in 2010 and even today the surrounding area is covered with volcanic ash.
Dramatic ice formations, Jökulsá meltwater river that weaves its way down the side of the glacier, and a constantly transforming surface will allow you to experience the stark and imposing beauty of nature.
Sólheimajökull is facing the unfortunate fate of almost all Iceland’s glaciers. It’s shrinking and shrinking fast, so make sure you pay a visit while you can still witness all its glory.
Natural ice caves are formed when meltwater runs through a glacier, leaving behind caverns within the glacier.
In spring, when the temperatures start to rise and the sunlight is longer every day, the surface of the glacier begins to melt. This meltwater drains downwards through the crevasses and moulins, carving channels and conduits into the body of the ice. When winter comes many of these caverns freeze and creates beautiful natural ice caves that are now safe to enter.
These unique natural formations are only accessible in winter as they collapse or are flooded during the summer. Every year at the beginning of winter brand new ice caves forms in the body of the glacier, sometimes in the same location as the previous winter.
When you are in an ice cave you are literally standing inside a glacier. As glacial ice is formed by compression, these ice caves are vibrantly blue! When the light conditions are favorable you are sometimes able to see very deep into the crystal-clear body of the ice. This is why one of Iceland’s most beloved ice caves is called the “Crystal Ice Cave.”
Glaciers can be dangerous. As they rapidly glide forward, their surface cracks. Glaciers have different layers. The top layers are more fragile and breakable while the lower layers are more solid. This results in many constantly-changing deep crevasses and fissures. In a very short period of time on a glacier, crevasses can form, snow bridges can collapse, and rainfall can completely alter an area. To top it off, Iceland has hundreds of small earthquakes every day and many subglacial volcanoes.
Regardless of how experienced a hiker you are, no one should attempt to venture out on a glacier without being accompanied by a local glacier guide who knows the terrain and is properly trained and equipped for these special circumstances.
Iceland is known for unforeseeable weather. It is likely that you can see all 4 seasons in one day.
Dressing for that kind of weather can always be demanding, so we suggest dressing in layers. 3 or 4 upper layers are highly recommended, for example, a light t-shirt (preferably wool) next to the skin, then a fleece or heavy wool garment topped off with a waterproof windbreaker.
Jeans are not recommended for our trips as they are not suitable for the weather conditions, they become very heavy, cold and uncomfortable to wear when they get wet.
Lightweight hiking pants, track pants or long cotton pants are convenient and wear wind/waterproof pants over them. There is high UV and sunlight reflecting off on the glacier so we highly recommend using sunglasses and sunscreen even if it is cloudy.
You will need sturdy hiking boots that fit crampons for the glacier hiking tours. If you do not own a pair then we rent out suitable hiking boots as well as a waterproof raincoat and trousers.
It is good to bring your own backpack on our full-day or half-day tours. It’s the best carry-on for a small lunch, extra clothes, and other necessary items.
The scenery on the tour is full of stunning, breathtaking views that you’ll almost definitely want to capture forever, so you should definitely bring your camera along. Your tour guide will also be happy to take your photo.
This is surely a personal choice, we do not deny pregnant women on our glacier trips but we highly recommend you to take a closer look at our trip description and difficulty ratings, they will hopefully give you a better idea. We also recommend you to contact your physician, as pregnant women’s health can be quite different. If you have any further questions or concerns then feel free to contact us.
Lunch is not provided on any of our trips, therefore we recommend you bring your own lunch, snacks, and a bottle of water (you can refill it on the trip). It is especially important to make sure you bring lunch on our longer trips.
Crampons enable you to walk on the glacier ice without slipping. They are metal spikes that we attach to the soles of your hiking shoes.
Yes, we have specially trained and certified glacier guides on every glacier tour that we offer. And for our 3rd party tours we only partner with operators that meet our quality and safety standards.
Yes, we provide you with all the necessary glacier gear for our glacier hiking tours. Ice axes, crampons, harnesses, and helmets are provided. This will help you to complete the tour safely. The minimum shoe size to attach crampons is EU 35.
Iceland is known to have a lot of snow and when the snow stays long enough in one place than it turns to ice. Over long periods of time, the ice layers up becoming huge blocks called glaciers. It forms to create ginormous glaciers that sweep across huge masses of land. Iceland is home of the largest glacier in Europe that is called Vatnajökull. The Glacier Guides can tell you more about and everything you need to know about the Glaciers.
Rain is common in Iceland but we never let the rain be in our way to go forward with our tours.
That’s why we highly recommend appropriate clothing so you can stay warm and dry.
Nature is out of our control and therefore we need to adapt to the weather. Your safety is our priority so if your safety is compromised by going on the tour then we will cancel it and you will get full reimbursement.
The guide on your glacier hiking tour will provide you with all the information you might need when preparing for a glacier hike.
Yes, the parking fee depends on your car category.
Category A - Passenger car, 5 seats or less: ISK 750
Category B - Passenger car, 6-9 seats: ISK 1,000
Motorcycles: ISK 300
You can always check the newest fees here.
